Phoenix Suns center Alex Len set to return, help struggling defense

PHOENIX — At one point during their just completed road trip, the Phoenix Suns played without three point guards and a center.

Eric Bledsoe (knee) and Ronnie Price (toe) remain sidelined after their respective surgeries; Brandon Knight is back following a bout of food poisoning, and now Alex Len is expected to rejoin his teammates during the upcoming three-game homestand.

Len practiced Monday, the first time he’s done so in a week after he sat out the three-game road trip to give his sprained left hand time to heal.

“It’s still sore, but the doctor said I got cleared to play, so try to see how it feels tomorrow,” he said. “It definitely got better. The pain level went down but it’s still pretty tender.”

Len first suffered the injury Dec. 28 and played through the soreness. He then took another hit on the injured knuckle area on Jan. 8 and has not seen any action since.

Len is officially listed as “probable” when the Suns host Indiana on Tuesday.

“Obviously the hand is probably still a little sore. I think he’s a little hesitant with getting it hit,” head coach Jeff Hornacek said. “But we did some stuff today that’s probably more intense than ever before and they all fought through it, Alex included, with a lot of banging, a lot of physical play. He still was there at the end of practice, so he didn’t get hurt.”

Len is not wearing any padding to protect the area — “It didn’t feel right,” he said, explaining he couldn’t get a good grip on the basketball — but did have his left ring and middle fingers taped together.

“Just hopefully in a few weeks, maybe two, three weeks, it’s going to go away,” he said.

Now in his third year, Len is averaging a career-high 6.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 18.3 minutes in 39 games this season.

Monday’s practice, and the intensity spoke of by Hornacek, focused on defense through 1-on-1, 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 drills, before eventually lengthening to full-court work.

Stops, rather than points, were applauded.

“We just kept emphasizing being after guys, pressuring the ball…keeping where you want them to go without fouling,” Hornacek said. “We can’t just go out there and play. We’re not at that level where we can just show up and do that. We’ve got to be intense…we got to be not afraid to help each other out, not afraid to knock someone over.  Just play to win. Sometimes I think we’re playing not to lose.”

Against Minnesota on Sunday, the Suns allowed 56.5 percent shooting, the fifth time in the past nine games they allowed an opponent to make more than half of their shots.

In losing their fourth straight and 13^th in 14 games overall, the Suns surrendered more than 115 points (117) for a third consecutive time.

“Our defense, hey let’s face it, it’s been horrible. It’s been poor all year, but especially recently, it’s been really bad,” Hornacek said.  “Maybe getting Alex back to have another big in there when Tyson (Chandler) is out of the game might help. But, it’s just being aggressive and believing you can stop somebody.”

Owners of the fourth-worst record in the NBA (13-29), the Suns own the league’s worst defensive unit, ranking 29^th in points allowed (106.9) and 30^th in opponent field goal percentage (47.6).

Len’s anticipated return isn’t a cure all — far from it –but it could provide a boost, which is much needed with half the season remaining.

“Hopefully we’ll get it together. We just got to be more focused on defense. It’s little things, help side, weak side defense,” Len said. “We haven’t played really good defense the last, what, 10 games, so we’re trying to pick it up because we score our points.  We average over 100 points.  If we can hold teams under 100 and below, like in the 90s, we’ll win some games.”

Related

Why the Cardinals are moving on from Marvin Harrison Jr.Cardinals place Isaiah Adams on injured reserveThe Marvin Harrison Jr. fiasco demands real reform from Michael BidwillIsaiah Mizell’s career day helps Arizona Wildcats blow by West VirginiaWATCH: Marvin Harrison Jr. trade specialCardinals are reportedly finalizing deal to trade Marvin Harrison Jr.